That’s usually just it. Even though the series has had them in every entry, the games aren’t about gimmicks. Souls games did a great job at giving players a ‘what you see is what you get’ experience. The game is about ‘git gud’ because the boss generally doesn’t get easier because you did some dialogue, flipped a switch, or otherwise. The earlier entries really tempered power scaling too so the absolute answer to difficulty in RPG type games: grinding levels to get stronger, wasn’t as effective either.

So it boiled down to just dodge the damage and deal it back. Revolutionary in its simplicity.